Christian Forums!

Welcome to Christforums.org! Here you will find Christian brethren in discussion, dialogue, and debate. If this is your first visit to our Christian forums, be sure to register. You must register to use the board and post comments, videos, and links. Registration is free and fast and takes less than 1 minute! Help grow our Christian community by registering today! We hope with your membership you enjoy fruitful fellowships.

Dad Banned From Taking Son To Church Because Ex-Wife Wants Him Raised Muslim

03-29-2016, 05:21 PM

A father was banned from taking his nine-year-old son to church because his ex-wife is Muslim.

Even more bizarre, a judge’s ruling declared that the boy must be fed “Halal” food and raise as an “ordinary Muslim boy.”

The father, who lives in the U.K. was threatened with loss of custody of his son if he breaks the ban on church attendance. He said he will challenge the ruling, that his son is being brainwashed into Islam and he doesn’t want him to become a “dumb sheep.”

The father was raised in Pakistan by strict Muslim parents, but has since rejected the faith. He said he and his ex-wife led a “Western lifestyle” in Derby, north of London.

After his divorce, he found solace in a local Christian church and wants to bring his son with him. He said it’s to “broaden his world view,” Breitbart is reporting. But the wife is objecting and secured a court order banning him from going to the church or the nearby recreation center it operates.

“After my divorce, the Christian community embraced me,” the father told Breitbart. “They run many activities my son enjoys so I go to the church and would like to take my son.

“I was taught that Christians were heartless and immoral, that only Muslims have a peaceful faith and all others are evil. It was only when I began mixing with Christians that I learned this was nonsense.”

His ex-wife told the judge that she’s worried her son might become “confused” if exposted to other religions. The father rejects that argument:

“This judge is simply scared of being branded Islamophobic,” he said. “I want my son to have a balanced life in which he is exposed to different faiths and can make up his own mind about which, if any, religion he follows. My son is being indoctrinated and the only way I can show him other things is to take him to other places.”

The bizarre ruling goes further: He is required to only feed the boy “Halal” food that meets the strict Muslim dietary guidelines and must ensure the boy is “an ordinary Muslim boy following Muslim rules,” whatever that means. The father is appealing.

“If I don’t show him other types of life he will become just like a dumb sheep,” he said. “I want him to see and learn about different cultures.”

And he said the ruling is affecting his relationship with his son: “This is nothing short of brain-washing him. Already he is telling me that I have a black heart; that I am a bad man, because I am not a practicing Muslim. I am heartbroken that I have to keep him away from activities with local children.

“He is being fed the same lies I was as a child and I want better for him. This judge was so busy being politically correct that she has ignored the influence of myself as a loving father. I am terrified that he will stop wanting to see me because of his indoctrination.”

Practitioners of Islam say going apostate from the Muslim faith is an offense punishable by death. If the court has to rule in the best interest of the child, do you think that a fear of a mob and retaliation may have been grounds for the ruling?

I wonder by what logic the judge decided to ban Christianity, instead of the other way around (the UK still has a state church, and it isn't Islamic), or simply staying out of it ("The court has no jurisdiction over the faith parents want to teach their children..."). Unless the judge himself is Muslim, which I doubt, how could he possibly think it's in the child's interest to force the dad to let the child be raised in a religion the judge believes to be false.

The father should be able to have influence over his son just as much as the mother. She wants him to grow up Muslim, and so she is unwilling to let the husband expose her son to the church. That is a pretty sad situation for the kid to be in a pickle with. With this type of force the mother is trying to impose it wont be too long before she's teaching their son that his father is an infidel. That can only lead to a strained relationship with the father and son. Hopefully the dad can get full custody of the child.

This sounds more like a domestic dispute rather than a religious one. It is between those two people, and everyone else really shouldn't give their two cents and making the issue bigger. I grew up with people like that, and it was a very complicated situation all around. Let them deal with it, since they will be the ones living with the consequences of their actions. Everyone else just needs to back off to be honest.

The boy is old enough to choose what's best for him in as far religious matters are concerned. If the boy doesn't want to go church, the father shouldn't force him to. If the boy wants "the best of both worlds" they should let have it. In such matters [where religious issues are concerned] courts shouldn't intervene because they don't know what's best for the boy.

This sounds more like a domestic dispute rather than a religious one. It is between those two people, and everyone else really shouldn't give their two cents and making the issue bigger.

But the court is intervening on behalf of the mother, so it is no longer just between the two of them. We should try to stop the court's intervention so the two of them can work things out by themselves.

Faith is free, the child should be given the right to freely choose his religion. I was raised by parents who had different religions, and I was also given the opportunity to experience both practices, before I finally decided what religion I would follow. On a bigger picture, though, it was not a great big deal for me because I believe we all worship the same God and it is not so much about practices or whatnot but pure faith in God.

This difference in religion among parents is a sad thing for the offspring. And what can the child do but obey any or both his parents. But when there is a conflict then the child will only be confused. I have seen so many cases like that but mostly between Christians only. There is a Christian sect here that forbids their followers to be in love with someone in another religion. Especially for the girl, that is one requirement before she takes in her suitor, that the buy should convert to their religion. I understand the rationale because the marriage might not be solid when the wife has a different religion from the husband. And as what this thread says, the conflict of religion will just confuse the child. What a pathetic situation.

It is just so sad when you read about things like this. Just think about the kid who is just sitting there as the parents bicker and battle it out, using religion as another tool by which to do so. I might just be assuming things about these people but that is just where I am at when it comes to news like this. I am going to go ahead and guess that I am probably right, though, so I am okay with it. It is sad, but just another reality of the world that we live in. I hope that they can find some better solutions and think about their son before they make these kinds of decisions.

This is a tough situation. I'm not too well acquainted with the laws in the UK, but legally, I'd think a judge can't really force religion on anyone.For the same reason that it shouldn't be able to force the mother into following Christian practices for her son, it shouldn't be able to tell the father that he needs to follow Muslim practices for his son. Honestly, believer to believer, all he can do is continue to show his son the love of God the best he can in this situation. He shouldn't be forced into practicing something he doesn't believe, but he can't force his son to be Christian either (none of us can force anyone to believe anything).

William, I do think that may have had an influence. I have read that the UK has a higher percentage of Muslims that the U.S. does, so maybe the judge felt it was in the child's best interest to avoid persecution from other Muslims? Even so, I just don't feel that's the right of the court to make that kind of decision. The parents should come to an agreement and, if they can't, then the courts ruling should be to let the son be exposed to both equally.

Practitioners of Islam say going apostate from the Muslim faith is an offense punishable by death. If the court has to rule in the best interest of the child, do you think that a fear of a mob and retaliation may have been grounds for the ruling?

Put that way, absolutely, I think that had an influence on the decision. The judge probably did this to prevent the child from being executed in cold blood because there isn't much that the world of Islam will allow. In the article, however, didn't it state that the father has custody? If that is the case, shouldn't it be possible for him to teach his own son about other religions in the privacy of his own home? Having gone back and re-read the OP, I'm wondering now if it meant that they have joint custody and he was afraid that she would get sole custody if he doesn't follow her rules? At any rate, I can understand his position here. His hands are tied, because nobody wants to go against Muslims in anything. After all, who is more frightening... the god who tells you to slice off the heads of infidels or the God who teaches us to love our neighbor as ourselves? The world usually follows the path of least resistance, but in dealings with Islam, the path of most resistance is favored.